Better known to American audiences of the '70s and '80s as TRANZOR Z, Mazinger Z is a popular robot anime from Japan. And in Japan, Bandai has produced some wonderful toys for this property. These toys are amazing in design and quality - it's a shame nothing this good ever hits the states - but if you're a fan of the property, there's a few places that you can order from.

We'll be looking at three different releases under the SUPER ROBOT CHOGOKIN line: MAZINGER Z, GREAT MAZINGER, and the MAZINGER WEAPON SET. Each set is sold individually and is quite the package. The Mazinger Z being the more basic version of the character comes with some great accessories, as does the Great Mazinger figure. The Mazinger Weapon Set includes an array of great accessories for both of these figures so it's a definite must if you plan on picking them both up.

Each set is packaged in an individual thin cardboard box with plastic tray inside containing all the contents. The box art is really impressive and eye catching, typical of toys sold for Asian audiences. Superb photography of the toy also graces the sides of the box and back, showing the buyer a good range of what they're getting into. The photography is brilliant and will do a better job selling the toy than what I can do, but I'll certainly try! Not to mention that most of the text is in Japanese so reading the information may be a challenge.

MAZINGER Z

The sculpt on these toys are A-MA-ZING. Pitch perfect all around. It's as if Hot Toys produced their incredible 12" figures in miniature, these 6" figures have great detail and are made of mostly die cast parts. The remaining parts are combination of PVC plastic and other materials but not noticeable. There's a satisfying weight to these figures when holding and posing them too. These are among the most solid figures I've come across. What makes Mazinger Z differ from Great Mazinger is pretty obvious really as they're completely different molds with unique details.

Paint is extremely well done on all of these figures, using a shiny metallic paint. The die cast parts just add to the realism of these figures that is severely lacking in most Transformer toys.

GREAT MAZINGER

The real gem of these figures are the points of articulation that make them extremely poseable while hiding most of the joints. There's at least 24 joints in each figure but what should be emphasized is that each joint has a wide range of movement. For example, the wrist can be rotated 180 degrees but can also tilt every which way to make your poses all the more varied. The same can be said to the head, torso, shoulders, just about everything. All joints are sturdy and can hold their own.

While the figures by their self are some of the best figures ever made, they also come with a great assortment of weapons. Let's start with Mazinger Z, who comes with three different sets of hands (open palm, fist, and cupped), a Kyoukagata Rocket Punch right arm with first and open hand, Mazinger blade, and a Styrofoam rock base. The red panels on Mazinger are also removeable and so is the small ship that is placed on his head. I do have trouble snapping the rocket in, however, and may consider superglue to hold it in place.

Great Mazinger comes with an even greater assortment of weaponry. FIVE sets of hands! Fisted, cupped, open, pointing, and another open hand. There’s removable leg fins, jet wings and tail fin, drill arm parts, Mazinger blade, and two energy blast pieces. One blast fits over his blade and the other over his finger. There's also the rocket ship that goes atop his head, which like the Mazinger figure, does not like to stay put.

Also noteworthy, both Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger come with a display plug that goes into the rear so that if you purchase the Bandai stand, you can display them using that.

The Mazinger Weapons Set is just that... all weapons. The Mazinger Z comes with the Kyoukagata Rocket Punch right arm, but here in this set you can get the left, which also includes both fist hand and open hand. Also included is a belt piece, Jet Scrander to attach on the back, and four rocket effects, two for Mazinger Z and two for Great Mazinger.

All of these sets combined make for an amazing set of toys. If you're a fan of Mazinger Z or just a fan of cool super robots, these are very impressive for their scale and fun to play with and display. They are available now in many online importers. Mazinger Z is approximately $40, Great Mazinger $50, and the Weapons Set about $12.

Being stateside, I'm not exposed much to what Bandai Japan is capable of making... but now I have seen the light. They are a maker of some really incredible toys.